1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for reversing hose or turning it inside out during the process of manufacture after the toe part has been stitched to form a seam in such a way that a closed end or "cap" is formed at the toe end of the hose, such known cap having the finishing seam substantially above the position occupied by the toes when the hose is worn on the foot.
It is known that hose is generally made by machines which are normally of an automatic type, whose last task is to stitch the toe part of the hose in a position located between the upper edge of the toe part of the hose and the edge of the instep part of the same hose so as to form said closed end cap.
This stitching operation is usually carried out when the hose is placed inside out on a sewing machine. It is therefore necessary for the hose to be reversed or turned inside out after the seam has been completed so that the subsequent operations of pressing and packaging may be carried out.
This operation may be carried out manually or, for instance, by means of suction pipes or reversing means equipped with rollers or other devices. However, these systems have various drawbacks and they all, in any case, require human labour, both for reversing the hose manually and for loading it on the appropriate machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are known apparatuses for reversing or turning other articles inside out such as, for instance, previously brushed flour bags, as disclosed in German Patent No. DE83521 of Oct. 23, 1895 or for reversing neckties as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,340,420 of Feb. 1, 1944.
In the first of these patent specifications, the bag to be reversed is placed by hand on a first shape, having the same outline and dimensions as the bag, which is positioned on a horizontally moving carriage carrying a second shape identical to the first, but arranged in a symmetrical position, such carriage being moved by hand by two operators on opposite sides, one for placing the bag on the first shape and the other for removing the reversed bag from the second shape.
The bag placed on the first shape is brushed by a first pair of brushes and is then reversed on the second shape by a second pair of brushes. These machines would be unable to reverse hose which is closed at the toes, firstly because the hose may be of various sizes and the tubular parts of the heel and of the leg of such hose do not have uniform cross sections, whereas the shapes on the moving carriage must be of uniform sizes, corresponding to those of the bags to be cleaned and reversed, and secondly because the hose to be reversed is in the process of being manufactured and does not require cleaning. Additionally, the requirement for two manual operators to put the bag on the first shape and take it off the second shape would not be compatible with an automated hose manufacturing installation.
In the second of the previously mentioned patent specifications, the machine described is intended to reverse neckties which are open at both ends and have a much reduced tubular cross-section.
In this machine, the open end of a tie is placed by hand on a first tubular member on to which it is hooked by means of a gripper integral with a second tubular member.
The reversing operation can be carried out only if an operator moves manually a pair of rollers adhering to the tie to a level which is below that at which the tie is hooked, in such a way that said rollers may grip the outer face of the tie and drag it along the first element while it is manually displaced.
In this case too, there are considerable drawbacks caused by the need for the open end of the tie to be manually put on and hooked to a tubular element, for the supports to be subsequently moved to make it possible for the pair of contra-rotating rollers to go past the hooking point, and then for the support to be returned to the initial position.
However, such a machine could not be used for hosiery, because it would be impossible for hose, which is closed at one end, to be put on said tubular element, and equally, it would be impossible to hook it to the same element.